As summer hits its peak and the beach hosts
crowds of tourists and locals alike, itâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s also a busy
time for the incredible wildlife on Pensacola Beach
and the surrounding coasts. Shorebirds like terns
and plovers make their nests and hatch their chicks
in the dunes, and sea turtles lay their eggs closer to
the shore. Sea turtle nesting season runs from May
to October. Female sea turtles drag themselves from
the sea and use their strong back flippers to dig a
hole and lay roughly 100 eggs per nest; female turtles
usually come ashore to lay their eggs at night and
return to the water by dawn, though some species
like the Kempâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s ridley have been known to come

ashore during the day. Different volunteer groups
and county and government organizations monitor
different areas of the coast, and so far this season,
there have been 100 nests recorded: 21 nests laid on
Pensacola Beach, seven nests in the Escambia County
portions of Perdido Key, seven nests in Navarre and
65 nests laid within the collective beaches of the Gulf
Islands National Seashore. Most of these nests were
laid by loggerhead turtles, though of this 100, there
have been five green sea turtle nests and two Kempâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s
ridley nests. These numbers are likely to increase
throughout the season. At the time this article was
written, no nests have hatched yet.
Pensacola Magazine